


The Empress Assassin Meets the Princess Witcheress

by ChronicWino



Category: Dishonored (Video Games), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Crossover, F/F, Femslash, Light Angst, literally just a little and it's totally not torture, my two murder daughters get the treatment they deserve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-10-16 15:28:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10574157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChronicWino/pseuds/ChronicWino
Summary: Practicing her world hopping and witcheress skills, Ciri ends up tracking a powerful magic signature to Dunwall. She'll find one hell of a magical creature on The Empire of the Isles.





	1. What's Your Deal?

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't get this pairing out of my head, so this is my attempt at making it happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did my best to stay cannon, but I did take some creative liberties for the story's benefit.

Soft whale oil lamp light shone off the polished wooden table in front of the Empress. The tall, angular woman was nursing a much deserved whiskey and trying to relax from the stress of the day. Her disguise, common looking leather trousers and a tan colored button up shirt, generally worked well in the low light of bars such as this. If anyone really looked though, they would notice the cut was too tailored and the material too nice for her to be a common woman. 

Out of nowhere came a feminine voice. “What’s your deal?” A silver haired woman wearing brown leather trousers and a loose white shirt walked up to the booth Emily was seated at. Emily cursed under her breath thinking someone had realized who she was and was wondering why the Empress of the Isles was at a shady dive bar in the distillery district. The patrons normally kept to themselves and didn’t bother her.

“My amulet is buzzing like an over-caffeinated foglet around you!” The woman slid into the booth with a smooth motion and looked relaxed for how out of place she was in here. Emily wanted to stealthily get away, but she was now trapped in the booth and didn’t want to draw attention by running. She had gotten used to being able to escape Dunwall Tower and drink like a normal person. It was nice to go somewhere without having to worry about how she looked or how unladylike it was to drink a whiskey on the rocks… or 8. Emily studied the woman, trying to gauge if she was a threat or not. She was about her age, with the most weirdly beautiful ashen gray hair. She’d never seen anyone from Dunwall look like that. 

The stranger raised an eyebrow sporting a wicked scar “Cat got your tongue?”

Emily started, confused. “What? No?” 

The newcomer laughed softly, “It’s a figure of speech." She motioned at the half empty glass sitting in front of Emily. "What’re you drinking?” Emily blinked and took a moment to respond, uncomfortable by this woman and her odd… well her entire being was odd. Not in a bad way necessarily, just different. Her accent wasn’t quite right and she looked like she’d come from an alternate dimension or something.

“Dunwall Whiskey." She finally responded, raising her glass and downing the rest."What else?” The other woman walked up to the bar and ordered two more. If she wasn’t already weird enough, Emily realized the girl carried two swords… and a crossbow? Emily liked her weapons as much as the next person, but two full sized swords was just excessive. As she slid back into the booth, drinks in hand, Emily realized she should be a bit more skeptical about this stranger. Damned if she wasn’t both mysterious and attractive. A dangerous combination for sure. Oh well, Emily thought. She was two drinks in and was interested in getting to know how exactly that scar across the girl’s face got there. It was her duty to the Empire to interrogate strange newcomers with swords, right?

“Thanks for the drink.” Emily said as the woman slid it across the table to her. “You didn’t mention your name.” 

“Ah, sorry, my name is Ciri. Yours?” She smiled brightly. Yeah, this woman was clearly not from Dunwall. Or anywhere on the Isles for that matter.

Emily sat forward, taking in the oaky aroma of the drink. “You don’t know?” 

Anyone from around here would have recognized Emily once seeing her up close. Her dark hair tied behind her head, angular features, intense eyes... simply the way she spoke and carried herself bled reality. Most people in this part of the world, especially in Dunwall, would know Emily upon studying her, even in disguise. And this Ciri sure was studying her quite ravenously.

“Should I know you?” The woman responded wryly, a smile at the edge of her mouth. Damn she was pretty. It was a bonus that the swords on her back didn’t look like they were for show. 

Emily laughed. She would normally have been much more serious and eloquent, but the mixture of the situation, the setting, and this attractive woman got to Emily. She could imagine the headlines of the gossip newspaper: _Emily Kaldwin, Empress of the Isles, Sneaks out of Her Tower and was Seduced by an Attractive Woman Who Didn’t Even Know She Was Royalty. _Ridiculous.__

__Since her and Wyman broke it off, Emily had been a bit numb to feelings. She knew it was for the best; Wyman had taken a position under one of the most respected scholars in the region and that required her to travel halfway across the world to do some archaeological excavations. Of course Emily helped to fund this excavation, so it was sort of her fault that Wyman had the opportunity to go in the first place. Her and Wyman’s love had been passionate and enlightening for Emily, but she knew the other woman would one day leave her to pursue her academics. The last thing on Emily’s mind these past few months were pretty women. Apparently until now._ _

__So a mysterious and vaguely threatening woman with a pretty face comes around demanding answers and Emily all of the sudden has an interest? It was comical to her- she was a highly trained assassin and literally ran an empire for The Outsider’s sake. She stopped laughing and took a breath. Losing all inhibitions to the already out of control situation, she impulsively responded. “I am Empress Emily Kaldwin and I would appreciate your discretion since I am clearly here not on official business” and downed the rest of her drink, slamming the glass down on the table with a mischievous grin on her slender face._ _

__Ciri looked at her, smirked, and replied with an air of exaggerated verbosity “Ah well since we are giving full names and titles I am Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, Heiress to the throne of Cintra, Inis Ard Skellig and Inis An Skellig. Princess of Brugge and Duchess of Sodden, Witcheress and general pain in the ass to many across time and space.”_ _

__Emily’s brown eyes grew wide before she could control her reaction. Honestly though at this point in their conversation, she wouldn’t be surprised if this woman also wrestled bears for fun. She sighed, the smile not dropping from her face. Seriously, who was this woman? Where were those places? She was only on her third whiskey… “Wait, are you serious?”_ _

__“Very." Ciri laughed gently. "But really Empress Emily Kaldwin, you haven’t answered my first question. What are you?” The over-exaggerated way she said her name told Emily that this girl probably was also royalty. Commoners would never talk to an Empress like that._ _

__“Empress?” Emily squinted. “That means this is my emp-”_ _

__“No” Ciri interrupted, eyes intense, but playful. “Not that. I mean what kind of magic do you wield? Are you a high vampire, or relic of some kind, a sorceress maybe? Freya knows you probably are a sorceress...” She trailed off, rolling her eyes and blushing. Ciri, like her father, had a special weakness for sorceresses. Especially pretty ones who looked like they could kick her ass, or at least put up a damn good fight._ _

__Emily’s eyes grew wide again, smile dropping from her face. She pushed a piece of her hair that had fallen behind her ear and furrowed her eyebrows. How did this… Ciri… know she had powers granted to her by The Outsider?_ _

__“Ah, it’s a secret then?” Ciri continued “This world isn’t kind to those who are different, eh?”_ _

__Her response made Emily relax a little. “Yeah it’s, not well known. I mean, not at all know but to a few. How...?”_ _

__Ciri pointed at the wolf shaped amulet around her neck “It vibrates around magic, I’ve been tracking you for a few hours trying to pinpoint who exactly was giving off the signal.”_ _

__Emily was incredulous. How had someone tailed her for a few hours and she didn’t notice? She decided then and there that she needed to start taking missions again and continue her training. Corvo had told her that she was as good, if not better, than him at this point and had not been training as vigorously with her as of late. After the craziness with Delilah, Emily hadn't been as intense in her Empress- adjacent duties._ _

__A mug crashed to the ground across the darkly lit bar and some patrons laughed. Emily liked seeing the common folk having a good time. She had seen so much pain in her people, she liked to know it wasn’t all bad here in The Isles._ _

__Emily had so many questions, but before she got a chance to ask anything else Ciri reached out and touched her arm. Emily’s heart raced, preparing to defend herself. Ciri spoke quietly to her and it seemed like time stopped around them, but Emily couldn’t look away from her darkly lined emerald eyes. “If you could go to any place right now, where would it be? And for the love of Freya please let it be less dreary than this damn bar...”_ _

__Suddenly, the world jolted and they were on an island near Karnaca that Emily sometimes vacationed to. “What- the- hell?” Emily whispered under her breath, looking around frantically. The moon was bright and the night sky was crisp. She couldn’t believe her eyes. The Outsider had taken Emily to weird places before, but not like this._ _

__Ciri smiled and touched her shoulder from beside her, making Emily feel instantly calmer. Like they hadn’t just…. Traveled? Was that even the right word? “I figured I would both show you a little of my powers and we could get out of that dank bar. Seemed like a win win.” Ciri looked around, beaming “I’ll be damned if this doesn’t look a bit like Toussaint, just without the mountains!” Emily, of course, had no idea what that meant, but she was still reeling from being teleported that she didn't even ask._ _

__The island was home to a small village that exported some of the best wine and olive oil in the world. It was close enough to Karnaca to be convenient, but far enough out to have some quiet privacy. Ciri and Emily stood on a grassy hillside with a beach outstretched below them and a cottage a bit uphill. At first Emily thought it might be an illusion, but there was no way this woman would have known this is the place Emily had been thinking of. Smelling the aroma of the olive groves on the breeze, she knew she was really here._ _

__“So,” Ciri said, stepping even closer to Emily. “I figured this was an ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours’ kind of thing.” and winked. Emily blushed and Far Reached down towards the beach. Ciri laughed and followed with a Blink._ _


	2. Firelight

“Aye, we will have to race!” Ciri said catching up, a little short of breath. “It’s hard for me to find many people I can truly put my powers up against!” Emily blushed again as she imagined Ciri being up against her in a different sort of way… She needed to get it together. The chance that this beautiful, two sword wielding princess was also into girls was a stretch.

Trying to reel her wandering mind back in, Emily cleared her throat and Shadow Walked back up the hill towards the cottage. Ciri watched Emily's shadow figure crawl up the mountainside. She turned and bent down to put her fingers in the water briefly. She then followed Emily to the house, looking like she was skating through the tall grass.

“Well, I suppose I’ve showed you a bit more of ‘mine’ than I originally planned” Emily said calmly reforming and strolling into the house. Ciri jogged through the front door, following Emily’s footsteps through the quaint cottage. It was decorated simply, but elegantly in pastel colors to accent the natural sunlight that streamed in during the daytime. Emily lit a few lamps and sat down in what looked like an office or library of some kind. She was a little surprised, and a little relieved, that Ciri didn’t seemed put off by her morbid looking Shadow Walk form. This girl would be a problem one way or another, Emily thought. She also knew she couldn’t help herself.

Ciri walked into the room a moment behind Emily, slung her swords to the ground, and sat on the couch opposite the other woman. Trying to get a hold of herself Emily got up, a little faster than she intended, and asked if Ciri would like a drink. “We have some special aged Dunwall Whiskey in the basement, if you are so inclined. It tastes much better than the slag we were drinking in that bar.”

Ciri smiled. “Well, I couldn’t turn down a drink from a Empress now could I?”

Emily walked out of the room and down to the basement. While gliding silently through the aisles of wine, she found her favorite aisle which, of course, held the barrels of whiskey. She grabbed a bottle and stopped at the mirror in the hallway to make sure she didn’t look like as big of a fool as she felt. Ciri could possibly be a strong political ally, so she should try and make a good impression. Looking in the mirror, she saw that her dark hair had come loose, probably while she was showing off outside. Instead of tying it back up, she let the silky black locks fall down around her shoulders. It would take her too long to properly fix it anyways. 

She walked back up the stairs and found Ciri crouched in front of the fireplace trying to light it. The night did have a bit of a chill to it, and Emily appreciated a nice fire. Especially when shared with a beautiful woman who didn’t treat her like glass. She hated how the nobility, even Wyman at first, treated her. It was relaxing to be around someone who treated her like… normal. Magic and all. She set the bottle down on the coffee table and went to get some glasses from the kitchen. 

In a moment, they were both sitting on the couch in front of the fire. Emily uncorked the whiskey with expert hands and poured them both large glasses. Ciri smiled. “You chose a beautiful place for me to teleport us to. What's it's story?” 

Emily’s lips tightened unintentionally. The last time she'd been here was with Wyman recovering from the events with Delilah, and ultimately getting her heart broken. 

Ciri knew that look and could guess that this had been a sort of lovers hideaway for the woman; somewhere that apparently had some bad memories. She went on after a heartbeat. “Well, regardless of it’s past I thank you for getting us out of that bar. Why were you there in the first place? Dunwall Tower run out of spirits that taste like basilisk piss or something?”

“You sure don’t talk like nobility” Emily said too fast to stop herself.

“Well, when you spend part of your teen years growing up with a troop of bandits, it negates some of the training." Ciri smiled encouragingly. “I enjoy being able to speak freely and as colorfully as I want, but if you'd like I can put on my Princess mask. Though the whiskey will make that a little harder to d-”

“No!” Emily said quickly. “That’s the last thing I want. I just knew there was more to it is all.” Emily was relieved the woman dropped the subject of the past, but was embarrassed she lashed out like that due to feeling uncomfortable. “ To answer your question, I like to escape the Tower sometimes undercover. I had an especially rough day, so getting out from under prying eyes and stuffy nobles helps me to relax." She took a long swig of the whiskey. "Generally, I am not disturbed and can drink in peace.” It came out a bit more terse than she meant, so she gave Ciri a wink to help offset the bite of the words. She was in fact happy the other woman interrupted her night. If Emily had stayed in the distillery district long enough tonight she would have had a hangover The Outsider couldn’t cure.

“Rough day huh?” Ciri said. “They let royalty have those around here?”

Emily smiled at that, happy Ciri hadn't taken offense. “The environment gets stifling to me. I like to be moving and would rather be going on reconnaissance missions rather than having to hear the upper crust squabble about who is betrothed to who. It gets old.” She didn’t know why, but she felt comfortable around this girl. She hadn’t had the time or the heart for companionship lately, so this was nice. “I’d like to hear more about you though. I mean… what countries did you say you were from? I should probably be more concerned that someone just magically kidnapped me than I am.” She finished the question with a soft laugh. A real laugh.

Ciri explained the best way she could, without getting bogged down into too many details. “I can travel through space and time. Logistically it’s a nightmare and I don’t fully understand the inner workings of it, but I have some pretty badass ancestors that I inherited some pretty badass magic from.” Ciri winked and took a hearty swig of her drink. She refilled both their glasses and continued, cautiously. “If no one will miss you back in Dunwall Tower, Empress, we could talk about this stuff all night. But I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble.” Their eyes held in that moment with the fire lighting the night between them.

After Emily resurfaced from the girl’s gaze, she sighed. Corvo would be worried. But he also knew she could take care of herself, so she decided against going back. “I sneak out quite a bit. My father, who also happens to be the head of security, may get a little frustrated that he lost my trail, but it’d be good for him to have a bit of a puzzle.” 

To that, the women raised their glasses and drank.


	3. The One Thing They Can't Fight are Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is best enjoyed with your drink of choice and mood lighting.
> 
> (NSFW)

“Well, yeah. I guess I always did consider Yen my mother. After her and Geralt visited the Djinn and found out it wasn’t a magically bound attraction... things were better between them. Which was what I had seen all along, mind you. I always felt they were destined to be, you know?” Ciri knew she was rambling, but didn’t stop herself. She didn’t often find someone she felt comfortable talking to, so she let her words flow uninhibited.“Your hair actually looks a bit like Yen’s when you wear it down.” 

She was warmed by thoughts of home. Geralt and Yen had adopted a pretty domesticated life- for a witcher and a sorceress anyways. They had a house and a few cats, both of them working only when their particular skills were needed. They had respected Ciri enough to support her in her endeavors, including honing her travelling skills. No point in having all this power and not using it to it’s fullest. She went home in between trips, but she missed them still.

The distance between the women had decreased unintentionally as the night went on. Over the last few hours they had shared their recent hardships- Ciri with the White Frost and Emily with Delilah’s usurping the throne. Reliving the emotionally charged stories brought the two together both emotionally and physically. 

“They let you go and travel around?” Emily said, incredulous. “I wish I had that freedom.” It was late into the night and they’d been talking for hours. They hadn't even touched their whiskey due to being so engrossed in their storytelling. Ciri seemed content to have her close, so Emily didn’t stop herself from placing a hand on the other woman’s thigh while asking the question. She tried to act like it was an innocent touch, but the women’s spiked heart rates told a different story.

“Well, they’ve learned it’s best to not try and control me. For everyones sake.” Ciri’s face grew serious. “I saved my world from the White Frost and then started travelling soon after, taking Witcher contracts here and there. I will have to stay there eventually I suppose, but I’m just not ready yet.” She sighed. “It’s so hard knowing how many worlds, how many universes exist outside of mine. I want to visit them all. I want to help places without people like us in them fighting for those who need it.”

Emily knew, intimately, how Ciri felt. “Wow. And I thought being Empress of one country on one world was hard…”

Ciri brushed a strand of Emily’s hair off her face and lifted her jaw gently. “Don’t downplay your struggle; you’ve got more responsibility than I do, world traveller or not.” Ciri lifted Emily’s face to hers, their lips a breath apart. She knew she shouldn’t. Emily had told Ciri of Wyman and her latest heartbreak. She didn’t want to hurt the girl. She couldn’t be a constant in this world, in Emily’s life. She couldn’t help it though. She kissed her anyways.

Ciri’s lips lingered after she touched them to Emily’s, waiting for the other woman to either reject or accept the advance. Ciri half wished she’d reject her and they could go their separate ways, no harm done, but Emily accepted the kiss ferociously. When Ciri pulled back in hesitation, Emily wrapped her fingers in the woman’s ashen hair and drew her deeply into another kiss.

Emily knew at this point that Ciri could literally stop time, but the way that time stopped when they were kissing was different. It was the kind of kiss that took you in and blacked out the rest of the world. The kind of kiss that both women needed. The kind of kiss that deeper than just sexual attraction. Just the kind of kiss both of them were not expecting when their eyes first met in the bar a few hours ago.

Ciri, in particular, really hadn’t expected this. She had been so busy traveling that she forgot that she had needs other than food, water, and shelter. Even more unsettling to her was that she was attracted to Emily in a different way than the random barmaids or fiddle players she sometimes had. The Witcheress came to explore this world’s magical signature; she was not expecting to find a hot Empress with mastery level combat skills and a personality to boot. Ciri might have been able to stop herself with anyone else, but once Emily put her hands through her hair to pull her closer she was done. 

Emily reached under Ciri’s shirt and ran her thumb across an erect nipple. Feeling the breast of another woman was always magical. Feeling the breast of a woman who was so different, yet so similar to herself... well that was damn near the most erotic thing Emily had ever felt. To be honest, this whole horny thing wasn’t something she was used to, especially lately. Now that the need had risen in her though, well Ciri had better be ready.

The feeling of the other woman grabbing her breast made Ciri let out a moan. She needed their clothes off, and fast, or else she might explode. She saw Emily’s nipples through her shirt and was sure she was going to go mad. She took the shirt off with a swift motion and tenderly bit the other woman’s nipple. Emily shivered underneath her.

Emily dragged Ciri’s face back up to hers while taking the other girl’s shirt off. The white blouse came off easily, and there was only a little cloth covering her breasts that remained. She unwrapped that while kissing down Ciri’s neck and collarbone. Ciri purred, obviously enjoying the neck kisses, so Emily started giving the ashen haired woman a hickey. She was in ecstasy. Ciri sat up, straddling Emily with her chest and a scarred abdomen exposed. Emily was sure she’d never seen a woman with such a sculpted body. Maybe only in the mirror. Ciri, looking down at Emily felt the same. How the hell did she look that good? It bordered on impossible.

Emily couldn’t wait. At the sight of Ciri’s curves, any reservations she had, fled. She reached up, tangled her fingers in Ciri’s hair, and pulled her back down into a kiss. “Pants” she said, breathless, between kisses. Ciri obeyed and slid off the other girl’s pants, exposing black lacy underwear. Ciri smiled at that “You’re a lace woman, eh?” then helped the girl take her pants the rest of the way off. Emily’s hands were on her breasts, her back, her hair, pulling her back down into her kiss. They rolled and switched positions smoothly, a move that for normal people on a couch would have been almost impossible. Now on top, Emily impatiently pulled Ciri’s pants and underwear off in one movement. She positioned herself on top of Ciri’s wetness, nothing but the thin lace of Emily’s lingerie between them. The heat of the touch rocketing them both forward, grinding, kissing, biting. Emily shifted and slid her panties off, kicking them towards the fire. 

Emily dove back down and started kissing Ciri’s neck, trailing down to her collar bone, around the side of her soft breast, down her toned stomach, stopping and nipping at a tattoo at her hip bone, and finally arrived at her destination. 

Emily took the other woman’s clitoris into her mouth and sucked gently. Ciri’s moans were getting louder, her hips bucking more frantically. “Wait! I want to finish together!” She straddled the other woman and they moved in sync like this was the 100th time their bodies had come together. After a few minutes, they both orgasmed, shaking and holding each other tight.


	4. Bacon and Eggs

After a few minutes recovering on the couch by the fire, Emily kissed Ciri’s temple and led her to the bedroom. Crawling into bed and getting settled Ciri said “I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been sleeping in Inns recently or what, but this bed is the softest thing I think I’ve ever been in.”

“Mmm, couldn’t be the company?” Emily said playfully, “Or the fact that you’re still pumped full of endorphins from orgasming?” 

Ciri rolled over and leaned across Emily, looking her square in the eye “Nope. Definitely the goose down comforter.” Then kissed her while Emily attempted to act like the was offended. Ciri continued playfully kissing Emily all over. “Really though, that was way too perfect. Is that was you were planning when you brought us here?” 

Emily sat upright, breasts outlined in blue from the moonlight shining in through the window. “No, but it sure did work out well.” And with that, she set her head on Ciri’s shoulder and settled in for what she knew would be a good night’s sleep. 

“You do sleep, right?” Emily asked suddenly, feeling foolish. Maybe this girl didn’t need to sleep since she could traverse time and space.

Ciri laughed. “Yes I do in fact use beds for their intended purpose. Sometimes…” She smiled mischievously at Emily, who seemed relieved that Ciri wasn’t an actual deity after all. They fell asleep peacefully in each other’s arms, something that neither woman had the pleasure of doing in quite some time.

The sun peaked through the window as Emily stealthily slipped out of bed. She looked back at the woman in her bed and smiled to herself. She dressed in some extra clothes she kept at the house. A flowing navy cotton blouse and some white linen slacks. Since they had shown up without letting the housekeeper know, there was no food in the house for them. Emily needed to go to town and send a message to Corvo as well as pick up some food. Was breakfast in bed for a woman she just met overkill? She laughed at the thought… overkill was sort of her thing after all. She headed out towards town, leaving a note in case Ciri woke up. 

Ciri rolled over and groaned. Mornings were not her thing. She sat up a little confused before remembering the night before. Pulling Emily's pillow up to her, she took in a deep breath and gently set the pillow back down. She had a policy about getting romantically involved with people from other words. Don't. She sighed and rolled out of bed, looking for her clothes. She couldn't find them, or Emily for that matter.

What she did find was a note in beautiful script sitting on the kitchen counter. Apparently Emily had put Ciri’s clothes in the wash and went to town to get food. Ciri sighed happily at the excuse to stay a little longer and decided to go for a swim. She rummaged around and found a white shirt and some panties to wear, then headed to the ocean.

Emily rounded the corner emerging from a tree covered dirt path, arms full of groceries. Ciri had seen her coming and was walking towards her, wet white tee shirt clinging to her curves. She ran up and took some groceries from her. Emily had stopped in her tracks, remembering those curves from the night before. Ciri noticed the gaze and chuckled. “Well if you had left me my clothes, I at least could have wrapped myself up.”

Emily blinked and quickly kissed her on the cheek. “I think it worked out in my favor.” She walked past the girl and went into the kitchen, Ciri following close behind.

“I sent a message to Corvo letting him know I was safe and that I would be coming back tomorrow.” Emily smiled and continued unpacking the groceries. “I meant to get back in time to bring you breakfast in bed.”

Ciri started. “You what?”

“You know, cook breakfast and surprise you with it before you wake up. You've never had it before?”

“No, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be a new obsession!!” 

“Well if you stay with me for a day or two, maybe we can make it happen." Emily tried to ignore the mounting panic at the thought of Ciri leaving forever. She wasn't ready.

Ciri looked at her and made a quick decision. “I'd love that. I have been on the road for a while, it'd be nice to take a little vacation." How often did she find someone she clicked with this well? To be honest Ciri was liked by most, but she had trouble making real connections with people since defeating the Wild Hunt. She let her heart lead the way on this one.

Emily breathed a sigh of relief. “I don't know if I would have easily given your clothes back if you were going to leave. May have even been an epic battle.” Ciri walked over and kissed her, pressing her wet shirt against the other woman's cleanly pressed blouse. Emily took her in her toned arms and they stayed like that for a long moment.

Ciri's stomach growled and broke the peaceful moment. At that they laughed together and began preparing a hearty breakfast for the two of them.


	5. Competition is the Name of the Game

“I haven’t tasted anything close to Skellige bacon in ages!!” Ciri said with a mouth full of the stuff.

Emily chuckled, biting off a chunk of olive tapenade covered bread. The olives were tender and juicy this time of year which made the tapenade even more tasty. “It’s a process they use around here, it has something to do with soaking the meat in salt, cinnamon, and white wine. Some other spice too I think, but they won’t even tell me so it’s a big secret.”

Ciri’s eyes widened as she crunched into a piece of the fresh toast. She could get used to this good food. When she was on the road she lived on porridge, dry cheese, and meat scraps. Though she did sometimes hunt, she felt bad hunting in worlds that weren’t her own. Plus she never knew if animals were exactly the same in other worlds, and she didn’t want to poison herself. Avallach wasn’t happy about her travelling, but once he stopped freaking out he made her agree to a few lessons on how to stay safe. He would have a fit if he knew about the risk she took by exposing her powers to someone she barely knew, but Emily was worth it. 

“Were you serious about that race?” Emily asked after a moment. Seeing Ciri’s powers last night made her wonder who would fare better in battle. She never could stifle her competitive nature. 

“Absolutely!” Ciri jumped up, wiping her face with a napkin. “Well, you may want to lend me some clothes. I think it’d be an unfair advantage for me if I was racing you in this.” She over exaggerated a gesture to her barely dry clothes.

Emily stood and grabbed Ciri by the hips, pulling her close. She leaned in close and whispered in her ear. “Your beauty is distracting, but my will to win is stronger.” She bit Ciri’s ear softly and turned away, heading to grab the girl some clothes. She had no chance of concentrating if Ciri didn’t at least put some pants on.

Emily grabbed Ciri an undershirt and some loose fitting navy cotton pants. Wyman helped her stock this house, so most of these clothes came with memories. She shook her head and decided that it’d be good to make new memories in them. She headed back out to the kitchen and found Ciri doing pullups on the tree outside. Emily was strong, but she was more stealthy than anything. Ciri was… she was feminine and muscular in a way Emily had not seen before.

“Fifty- six, fifty seven…” Ciri acted like she didn’t see Emily coming towards her. She liked being able to fluster this woman. Something about the way Emily always seemed composed challenged her. 

“Oh come on!” Emily said, hand on her hip, at the bottom of the tree with pants in her hand. 

Ciri jumped down. It was about 5 feet from the branch to the ground, and she made sure she landed in a way that implied she always did pull ups right after enormous breakfasts and was not struggling at all. “Sorry, didn’t see you-”

Pants and an undershirt hit her in the face before she could finish her sentence. She put them on as sultry as possible. Emily burst into laughter throwing Ciri off balance. “You are trying to distract me!”

“Guilty as charged.” Ciri blinked purposefully a few times, attempting to bat her eyelashes.

“I’ll have you know I take training very seriously. I take competition even more so.”

“So do I!” Ciri furrowed her eyes in a dramatic way, playing up her pouty lips. She switched off the sultry act and looked Emily with a serious smile. “Distraction is one of the best tactics.”

“Well,” Emily said “you may want to work on it because all you’re doing is making a fool of yourself.”

Ciri gasped sarcastically and ran towards the beach, Emily charging after her. 

“We should spar, then race, then spar again. Best of three wins.” Ciri said valiantly. “If that’s okay with you, of course, Empress.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “Just because you’re a princess doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass. We may be sleeping together, but that doesn’t mean I’ll hold back either sugarlips.”

Coming from anyone else Ciri would have been beyond pissed. Sugarlips?! Coming from Emily though… it had a much different effect. She decided against teasing Emily for cursing, she was happy the woman was loosening up. The first round lasted over an hour. Emily bested Ciri because Ciri lost her footing in the loose sand and went tumbling into the water. Could she have continued? Yes. Did she want this to be a multi day tournament? No.

“Let’s take a break before the next round, eh?” Ciri sat in the soft blue waves pushing back her hair. “If it takes another 2 hours to finish, we may not have any energy left for tonight. That would be a damn shame.” 

“Only if you agree that I win 1.5 times because you need a break.” Emily teased.

“Absolutely not! I just thought you needed a break! You’re starting to look tired!”

Emily growled and tackled Ciri, knocking them backwards into the warm blue water. They held each other and laid in the shallow water, catching their breath and letting the sun warm their tired muscles. A few minutes later, the two warriors got up and decided on a route for the race. They decided sprinting would be better in the interest of time.

“You can’t teleport though. I mean, blinking or whatever you call it is fine… but you can’t just go from here to the finish line.” Emily carefully laid out the rules. She knew this girl was mostly honorable, but she sure didn’t trust her in friendly competition.

“How dare!”

“On the count of three, we run half a mile down to the dock and back.”

Emily counted slowly. “One, two, th-” They sprinted off together, bare feet spraying the hot sand behind them.

The race was neck and neck and the finish line was quickly approaching, so Emily decided it was time to get dirty. She shadow walked and tripped Ciri, quickly changing back and continuing without as much as a stumble. Ciri howled and Emily swore she saw her down a shot and start glowing. The next thing Emily knew Ciri was in front of her and was, in fact, glowing. The last 50 meters were a blur to them both, but at the last moment Ciri sprung and dove over the line catching some serious air.

They both collapsed at the finish line.

“Cheater!” Emily huffed.

“Oh okay miss ‘no teleporting, but I’m going to trip you up using my demon form’ I see how it is.”

Emily flinched at the word demon to describe her powers, but there wasn’t really a better word for them either. “Well, only one more round to go. How about armed combat? No bullets or poison of course, but swords and powers are all good to go.”

Ciri brightened up. “You’re on sweet cheeks!”

Emily went over to their bags and grabbed a flagon of whiskey. “May as well have a little liquid courage since you’ve already been drinking.”

“I took a health potion because someone made me twist my ankle!” Ciri lightly punched Emily's toned bicep.

Emily smiled. “Told you I wouldn’t hold back, buttercup.” She downed a large gulp of the mahogany liquor and unsheathed her sword.

Ciri uncorked another potion to restore her health fully. She wasn’t a mutated witcher, but her elven blood enabled her to take certain potions that were similar. Emily’s intense look told her that she really wouldn’t hold back and that Ciri should probably take this seriously. 

Thunder sounded in the distance as they faced each other. An elven-blooded witcheress against an empress marked by The Outsider. The air between the two women grew thick. Both of them staring intensely, sizing up the other. 

“Okay.” Emily spoke in a soft throaty voice. “We fight all in. A true match of our skills and powers.”

Ciri nodded. “Let’s go!”

They flew into sparing with their swords. Both women matched evenly. Ciri’s fighting style was like dancing with two swords. She spun and flashed around Emily while defending and striking aggressively. Emily’s fighting style was more straightforward and polished. She tried a few times to Far Reach the swords out of Ciri’s hands, but Ciri was moving too fast for her to aim well enough. They continued to spar, hopping around the rocks on the shore and trying to corner each other in the water.

Suddenly, a man came bounding from the treeline with a crossbow aimed at Ciri. Both women turned and prepared to defend themselves. 

“Corvo! No!” Emily shouted, tasting blood in her dry mouth. Corvo stalked closer, not taking his aim off the ashen haired woman.

Ciri stood still and dropped her weapons, understanding how this looked. She was a stranger who was fighting the Empress of this land.

“We are sparring. Everything is fine.”

“Fine? Emily, you have a huge gash on your arm and you look like you’ve been fighting for your life.” Corvo said, trying to remain calm.

“Corvo, this is Ciri. I’ll let her introduce herself fully to you later because I can’t even remember all of her titles. Princess, to start.”

Ciri rolled her eyes. “I prefer to be introduced as a witcher, but princess will do I suppose.” She picked up her swords and sheathed them behind her. “I’d shake your hand, but-”

“Princess from where?” Corvo interrupted. 

Ciri looked at Emily and took in a deep breath. “I am Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, Heiress to the throne of Cintra, Inis Ard Skellig and Inis An Skellig. Princess of Brugge and Duchess of Sodden.”

Corvo looked at Emily incredulously. “Emily what the hell are you doing sparring with a someone who obviously is hallucinating?”

Emily laughed, making Corvo relax just a little. “It’s a long story. How about you let us get cleaned up and we can all talk this over lunch?”

Corvo looked suspiciously between the two women. “I guess I can’t insist otherwise.” He sulked off towards the house.

Emily stepped towards Ciri and placed a hand on her arm. “Sorry about that. Royal protector mixed with dad instincts makes him a bit overbearing sometimes.”

“I get it.” Ciri smiled. “Geralt has that same kind of broody dad thing going on too.”

They laughed, but Emily could tell something was up with Ciri. Her mouth smiled, but her eyes were distant.

“Let’s rinse off in the ocean.”

“I have a better idea.” Ciri grabbed Emily’s hand and the world jolted.


	6. Starting Now.

Emily's eyes fluttered open. The two women stood on cold stone at the edge of a hot spring with dense green forest all around them. Little lights dotted the trees softly lighting the area.

“Ciri.” Emily breathed. “You have to prepare me for that next time so I can try and keep my eyes open.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Ciri pulled her in and gave her a kiss that tasted like salt and blood. 

Ciri led Emily to the spring and started taking her clothes off. Emily followed and they got in the water, the warm water cleaning and relaxing their sore bodies.

“May I ask where we are?”

“Eh, found this place during one of my witcher contracts.”

“Meaning we are in your world?” Emily smiled widely. She couldn’t get her head around the fact that they weren’t on her planet anymore. Maybe not even in her universe.

“Yes, we are on Skellige. I spend a lot of time here, even dated the queen for a little bit.”

Emily groaned. “You have a type I’m guessing?” She didn’t like thinking of Ciri in anyone else’s arms.

“If by type you mean strong, intelligent, beautiful women, then yes. We didn’t date for long. Really more of a triste. We decided it was best if we stayed friends though with the political climate as it is. 

Emily looked confused. There was so much about this woman she didn’t know about.

Ciri continued. “Nilfgaard, the empire my biological father rules, sort of has a history of invading other nations. Including some nasty skirmishes with Skellige. Though I am also royalty on Skellige and I would not try to invade any nation Cerys ruled, some of the islanders are skeptical of where my allegiances lie. We decided to call it quits to ensure her nation trusts her fully.”

“You mentioned you hate politics.” Emily teased. “Yet you seem to navigate the waters with expertise.”

“Only because the stories I’ve told are over and you get the clean easy version. Luckily in this case, Cerys and I agreed it was for the best.” 

Ciri submerged her head under the water, scrubbing the grime off of her face. Emily watched her for a moment then did the same, wringing out her black hair and putting it down over her shoulder. 

“Thanks for sharing this with me, Ciri.”

“I like the way my name sounds on your lips.” Ciri responded with a troubled look.

“What’s wrong?”

Ciri scooted closer and put Emily’s arm around her shoulder. Her skin tingled where it met the other woman’s. She tried to ignore it.

“I have a type, but I also have a pattern.” Ciri let the words flow from her mouth quickly. “I run away when I start feeling anything more than sexual attraction. After losing so many people in my life… it’s hard for me to be open to real, healthy relationships. I’ve seen what losing a lover does to people and I don’t know if I could take it, so I never let myself fall in love.”

Emily unconsciously tightened her arm around Ciri’s shoulder. The witcheress laid her head on her shoulder and Emily kissed her temple. They sat in silence, taking in the crisp night air and letting the warm water bubble over them.

She couldn’t stop herself from tearing up with frustration. “I think it’s too late for me. If you left and never came back, it would be like losing a lover.” Emily turned towards Ciri and put her hands on her shoulders. “Sometimes you have to take risks! Sometimes you have to get hurt! You can’t just live life on the surface and never love anyone because you’re scared of what would happen!”

Ciri let the woman shake her. She was so tired. She shared so much with this woman over the last two days, she didn’t know if she could stay away either. Every other time she could take a step back and logistically look at her options. Weigh the pros and cons to staying with people and then convince herself there were more cons. This time though, she really couldn’t see herself pulling away. That scared her more than anything.

“Okay, but logistically-”

“Fuck your logistics!” Emily hissed.

Ciri smiled. “No I mean, I am agreeing with you. I think it’s too late for me to turn back now too.”

Emily rose like she was going to have to continue arguing, but when she processed what was said she slid back into the water and cried. She didn’t cry often, but this was too much. She was tired from sparring, tired from the emotional release of last night, and tired of letting those she loved leave her without a fight.

Ciri caught Emily in her arms and held her close, speckling her with kisses. 

“I guess this means I need to meet your father again? Maybe this time not while I’m winning a violent competition against his precious daughter?”

Emily straightened up. “You were NOT winning! I was about to knock your ass out!”

Ciri laughed raucously. “I guess we will never know!”

“Oh we will rematch. Don’t you worry.”

“Well all I really need to worry about now is making a good impression on the Royal Protector. I wasn’t kidding about the logistics of this being complicated either, we will have to discuss that too.”

Emily sighed. “I guess dating across time and space might be a little challenging.” She closed her eyes.

“Nothing we can’t handle.” Ciri said, taking Emily’s face in her hands. “I will do everything I can to ensure this works. I have a few favors I can call in to some sorceresses that might be able to help out.”

They kissed softly and relaxed in each other's arms. With so much pain and suffering in their pasts, the two warrior women were ready to usher in an era of happiness and fulfillment. 

Starting now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! When my life calms down and I have more time to spare for writing, I may continue on with this story. For now though they deserve a happily ever after. Thanks for all of the comments, kudos, and feedback!


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